Gaza women face legal hurdles in divorce cases amid war

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Amid the ongoing war, Sohair al-Bordani, 30, was displaced to the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza to care for her four children. After 10 years of marriage, her relationship fell apart. She said arguments with her ex-husband grew increasingly heated after the war erupted in 2023, driven by the immense survival pressures in Gaza.

Under the law, to obtain a court-ordered divorce and the accompanying financial rights, al-Bordani had to appear before a religious court and prove her circumstances. She began legal proceedings in February 2025, but with the judicial process stalled by the war, the case dragged on without resolution.

Eventually, al-Bordani was forced to choose a quicker option – khulu, a form of divorce initiated by the wife, often accompanied by relinquishing financial rights. In her case, she had to return her dowry to her ex-husband and give up the alimony she would otherwise have received.

“I gave up everything because in this situation, claiming rights became extremely difficult. I just wanted to find peace and start a new life, away from everything I went through during that time,” al-Bordani said.

Legal delays

Al-Bordani's story reflects the experience of many Gaza women trapped between delayed lawsuits and a war that has paralyzed the justice system. Decisions determining their futures hang in limbo until courts can fully resume operations.

Sheikh Hassan al-Jojo, head of the high Sharia Judicial Council in Gaza, said courts have handled more than 8,700 divorce cases from the start of the war in October 2023 to the end of May 2025. This figure comes despite immense challenges such as damaged courthouses and a shortage of judges and staff.

Al-Jojo emphasized that courts have resumed near-full operations, with services maintained even when buildings were closed. However, he also pointed out that each court has only one computer, frequent power outages, and shortages of printing supplies and basic office materials that hamper work. “Essential services, including marriage, divorce, and other procedures people need, have not stopped. But the priority in this period is maintaining services, rather than improving them,” al-Jojo said.

Painful consequences

The divorce figures do not fully reflect the war's impact on families. Delayed access to the legal system leaves women like al-Bordani unable to pursue their legal rights after divorce, especially child custody, alimony, and other financial payments.

Lawyer Mohammad al-Talaa in Gaza said the war has severely affected the functioning of judicial bodies, causing thousands of hearings to be postponed and many cases suspended. Thousands of document files have been lost due to bombings and destruction of offices, making it difficult to prove rights, especially in civil and property cases.

For family-status cases, the suspension of enforcement departments means women awarded alimony by courts cannot receive the funds. This also affects child visitation, leaving many parents unable to implement rulings related to meeting their children.

Lawyer al-Talaa stressed that prolonged delays leave many women stuck in marriages they want to leave. They cannot move forward, financial burdens weigh on families, and unresolved cases involving children increase psychological pressure on all parties, on top of the trauma caused by the war itself.

Suad al-Naami, 22, refused to live in ambiguity. She chose khulu divorce even though it meant giving up rights a court divorce ruling could have provided. She was married only five months before leaving due to conflicts with her husband. “I never thought my married life would begin this way. I hoped we would have a home and a stable life, but displacement and living in a tent made everything harder,” al-Naami said.

For the young woman, the promise of a fresh start amid Gaza's devastation was better than a prolonged lawsuit. “Giving up rights is not easy, but I felt that a long legal process would only cause me more suffering. I just wanted to end the disputes and start over, because staying in a problematic relationship under these circumstances is harder than deciding to part ways,” al-Naami confided.